University of Cambridge Face Database

Preface

The University of Cambridge Face Database is a collection of video sequences
of largely unconstrained, random head movement in different illumination
conditions, acquired for the purpose of developing and evaluating novel
face recognition algorithms. This page describes the database in detail.

Publications

This is a list of the main publications in which the Cambridge Face Database was used:

Description

The database contains 100 individuals of varying age, ethnicity and gender,
see a summary in Fig. 1. For each person in the database we collected 14 video
sequences of the person in arbitrary motion. We used 7 different illumination
configurations and acquired 2 sequences with each for a given person. The
individuals were instructed to approach the camera and move freely, with the
constraint of being able to see their eyes on the screen providing visual
feedback in front of them, see Fig. 2. Most sequences contain significant yaw
and pitch variation, some translatory motion and negligible roll. Mild facial
expression changes are present in some sequences (e.g. when the user was
smiling or talking to the person supervising the acquisition).

Acquisition hardware and miscellaneous

Video sequences were acquired using a simple pin-hole camera with automatic gain
control, mounted at 1.2m above the ground and pointing upwards at 30 degrees to the
horizontal, see Fig. 3. Data was acquired at 10fps, giving 100 frames for each 10s
sequence, in 320 by 240 pixel resolution, see Fig. 4. On average, the face occupies
an area of 60 by 60 pixels.

(a) Pin-hole camera used for data acquisition.

(b) Geometric configuration.

Fig. 3. Data acquisition setup.

&nbsp

Fig. 4. Frames from a typical video sequence.

Obtaining the database

The acquisition of data for the Cambridge Face Database was funded by the Toshiba Corporation.
Therefore, at present, its content is not publicly available. However, if you are interested
in using the database or a part of it, and believe that this could benefit the University of
Cambridge or the Toshiba Corporation, please do contact me.